Are you confused or concerned of your own status or the status of your workers in the light of all the fuss around the Uber drivers or the Pimlico plumbers who came before the Supreme Court for a decision?

The Supreme Court made a number of decisions in these cases but 2 of the highlighted lessons are :-

Right of substitution

If a worker is entitled to substitute another worker to deliver services then it is more likely that he/she will be regarded as self employed. However, if the “dominant feature” of the contract is that services will be provided personally then the worker is more likely to be regarded as an employee.

If there are covenants restricting a worker’s activities during or after the contract term then the worker is more likely to be regarded as an employee.

If there are restrictive covenants they will not necessarily turn a genuinely self employed person into an employee but it is one of the factors which will be weighed in the balance.

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